Latest news with #Gorgonzola
Metro
09-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Metro
12 best things to do in London this weekend including 'stunning' rooftop bars
Welcome back to The Slice! We've been plunged back into chilly weather (with the odd peek of sunshine) in London. But that doesn't stop us from soaking up those few rays on suntrap terraces… we're just making sure we've always got a jacket to hand. And because London does know how to do its thing when it comes to outdoor dining, we're dedicating this issue to the best terrace spots in London, from Amélie's immaculate views and silky smooth mousse au chocolat to soulful jazz and acoustic vibes at Amano's Skyline Sessions. We're also telling you if Notting Hill's Dove is worth the hype. Nigella Lawson sure thinks it is. According to her, they serve up 'the best pork chops' and a 'sensational' Gorgonzola burger. But the catch? Dove only sells 10 of them. We managed to get a table, but did we get to try the oh-so-famous burger? Find out below. Plus: Metro's brand new food series, What's Cooking, sees Food & Drink Writer Courtney Pochin interview guests to find out exactly what's going on behind the scenes in the nation's kitchens. For the first instalment, Jamie Oliver shares what he really thinks of McDonald's. Read on for a whole range of recommendations for 10-11 May, handpicked as always by The Slice. The Slice is your weekly guide to what's happening in London, so if you're looking for restaurant reviews, drinks deals or just a great new exhibition to visit on a rainy Saturday in the capital, we've got you covered. Click here for this week's edit of the best things to do in town. The Slice newsletter also a brand new look! We'll still be in your inbox every week, bringing you all the very best things to eat, drink and do in the capital. So if you want get the next edition before anyone else, sign up here! If you want to do it all on the cheap, you can also find our latest batch of exclusive hand-picked offers in partnership with Time Out here. If you're looking for something to do this weekend, here are 11 of the best activities, dining, and drinking spots in the capital. By Courtney Pochin As someone who considers the words of Nigella Lawson to be gospel, I had to try Dove immediately after seeing she'd raved about the Notting Hill restaurant in not one, but three Instagram posts. According to the foodie queen, it sells a 'sensational' burger as well as the 'best pork chops' she's ever eaten. So good was this pork that she was reduced to 'mesmerised inarticulacy'. Unsurprisingly, she wasn't lying about the pork chops, they are indeed delicious. Tender and juicy, with a tangy sauce that I couldn't stop dunking the duck fat fries into. However, I think Nigella enjoyed them a lot more than me, as I wasn't rendered speechless. They were good, but not that good. As for the Gorgonzola Burger, I can't confirm whether or not it lives up to the hype… as there weren't any of them left. The off-menu item is made using trimmings from 50-day Highland Beef Sirloin Chop and there's just enough excess meat to make 10 patties each day. I arrived 30 minutes after opening time and all 10 had already been snapped up. They won't save them for anyone no matter how special you are. People have even tried to bribe them with cash. So lesson learned, if you want to try what some people are calling the best burger in London, you'll have to get there before the doors even open. Read Courtney's full review of Dove here. Small plates from £12. Sharing dishes from £44. 31 Kensington Park Rd, Notting Hill, W11 2EU. Book here. Best for: stunning views There are loads of rooftop with rubbish views, but this is not one. With beautiful views of St Paul's Cathedral, you can sit here and watch the world go by with a cooling glass of wine or a tasty Sabine Signature cocktail to sip on. We loved the refreshing Velvet Bloom – with Sabine gin, lychee liqueur, rose cordial, citrus solution. With the citrus cutting the sweetness, it's just right – a balanced gift of floral flavours. And the food feels just as chicken toast is a lovely invention – seriously crunchy (almost too crunchy) bread with creamy sweet n' sour gochujang sauce. Small plates from £6. Large plates from £18. Cocktails from £16.50. 10 Godliman St, St Paul's. Book here. Best for: a chic spot to unwind To usher in the return of longer, warmer evenings, glitzy Covent Garden hotel Amano is welcoming guests to its tranquil rooftop terrace bar to enjoy Skyline Sessions, a weekly live music series of soulful jazz and acoustic performances. The view up here is stunning – Covent Garden isn't exactly high rise, so you have a panorama from Battersea Power Station to the London Eye and beyond. Take it all in over exclusive cocktails from Elephant Gin – this is the ultimate way to wind down at the end of a long week. Skyline Sessions. 22 May. Entry and cocktail, £15. 34-43 Russell Street, Covent Garden. Book here. Best for: ultimate decadence If you love people watching, Amélie's terrace on Motcomb Street in Belgravia is the ideal spot to do it. You'll be shaded by a giant parasol, a crisp glass of Miraval Provence Rosé in hand. Just don't skip the mousse au chocolat. Expect an entire chocolate mousse trolley brought to your table, with a giant bowl of the rich, silky smooth pudding to generously scoop from. You can pick your own toppings – like hazelnuts or a glug of olive oil. For true decadence, opt for a little bit of everything and don't offer your dining companions a single spoonful – it's too good to share! Cocktails from £13. Mousse au chocolat, £12. Pantechnicon, 19 Motcomb St, Belgravia. Book here. By Josie Copson Toum is a true Parisian escape. The chicken restaurant mixes Lebanese flavours with a French twist, literally. They've stuck their poultry on a rotisserie, a giant French spit. With burgundy booths, bar seating to watch the chefs and art deco light fixtures, this is far from a cheeky Nando's. While the signature chicken is moist, it's little lacking in flavour. That's where the standout chicken jus comes in. The succulent and rich gravy is golden in both colour and taste, and it oozes seamlessly into the meat's skin. Our dessert pick is tarte tatin, so sweet it'll almost make you wink. The tart's sticky consistency marries well with its soft vanilla ice cream companion. If you've finished your food but the catchup isn't done, head downstairs to the atmospheric underground bar. Cocktails are a plenty and they even offer £8.50 mini cocktails for the sober curious (or those with a big day at work the next day). Rotisserie chicken. Half, £19. Whole, £38 (at lunchtime you can get a side and a green salad with it for £20). 18a Maddox Street, Mayfair, W1S 1PL. Book here. Plant-first chef Rishim Sachdeva is teaming up with vegan influencer superstar, chef and cookbook author Max La Manna in collaboration with Rishim's restaurant Tendril. Taking place on 9-10 May, they've curated a delicious six-course plant-first set menu. Expect dishes like crisp green strawberry salsa on blue corn tostada, and pickled rhubarb & nettle tempura. Get your tickets here! The first Permit Room restaurant in London, from the team behind the beloved Dishoom, has officially opened in Notting Hill. Expect a menu slightly different and more casual to Dishoom, but fear not – favourites like the bacon naan will still grace the menu. As part of their soft launch, you can get 50% off food until 9 May. Walk-in space is available! Hello JoJo, a bakery and restaurant opens on 10 May. It joins a big family of other brilliant eateries as the latest addition to foodie strip Camberwell Church Street. They'll be serving up tasty bread and pasties, as well as salads and pastas. A new wacky concept is here: FLOORS. At this pop-up by Bosch, diners will be eating on the floor showing just how well their new vacuum can clean. The pop-up is inspired by research revealing that 43% of Brits follow the 'five-second rule' (so we won't judge you if you do it too). Dishes like lychee ceviche and black sesame mochi cake will be on the menu. 9 May. 7pm – 9:30pm. Get your ticket here. Get 50% off Mildreds new lunchbox to go, which aims to bring some life to Soho's lunch scene. Brighten your day up with the Rainbow Connection, a crisp, colourful slaw with beetroot, carrot and plenty more lovely veggies. The offer is available 12-16 May, Monday to Friday, 12–2pm. But hurry, once they're gone they're gone. New restaurant Shakara popped up in December 2024, aiming to find a space in the ever-growing family of incredible high-end African restaurants in London. With Victor Okunowo in the kitchen, a semifinalist of MasterChef: The Professionals, and former Akoko executive chef Ayo Adeyemi helping to develop the launch menu. These are impressive names, so it's fair to say we had high hopes for Shakara. They've got some seriously inventive dishes, like peppered goat and smoked marrow croquettes – beautiful umami bites beneath a crunchy outer layer. And the cocktails have cool twists too, like the Suya Sour, with its punchy spiced rim and plum garnish filled with dried plantain chips. But long waiting times, overly salty jollof rice and underwhelming lamb skewers (they're tender but lacking in flavour) tell us that this restaurant has a long way to go if it wants to follow in the footsteps of critically-acclaimed Chishuru, Akara and Akoko. Snacks from £10. Cocktails from £16. 66 Baker St, Marylebone, W1U 7DJ. Book here. The humble fry has been taken to the next level with London's newest The Lobster Loaded Fries at Burger & Lobster are designed for sharing. You get two whole lobsters, gooey cheese sauce, and chives, drizzled with the cult-favourite Lemon and garlic butter sauce. To try it? Just tell a waiter that you know about the secret loaded fries in-restaurant. A literary festival is landing at Fleet Street Quarter on 14-17 May, with a pretty impressive line up of speakers. Expect events across the world of current affairs and journalism, fiction and screenwriting. More Trending Guests include Jeremy Vine, Larry Lamb, Reeta Chakrabarti, Iain Dale, Jimi Famurewa and more. Grab your tickets! The summer season has officially launched at the outdoors Shakespeare's Globe, featuring a whole host of wonderful plays centred around love, revenge, truth, power and peace. It kicked off with a brand new production of Romeo and Juliet starring Abdul Sessay (Dear England, National) and Lola Shalam (Women, Beware the Devil, Almeida) as the famous 'star-cross'd lovers'. Next to launch is an adaptation of Arthur Miller's The Crucible. On for a limited nine-week run, it's a gripping tale with paranoia and superstition sweeping through the town of Salem. Romeo and Juliet, until 2 Aug. The Crucible, 8 May-12 July. Shakespeare's Globe. Book tickets here. MORE: I tried the £60 meal Nigella Lawson keeps raving about — it wasn't what I expected MORE: I snooped through Jamie Oliver's kitchen — and discovered what he really thinks of McDonald's
Daily Record
28-04-2025
- General
- Daily Record
Parmesan fans are 'going vegan' after learning how their favourite cheese is made
Some individuals are reeling after uncovering a fact about Parmesan cheese, prompting responses from "going vegan" to feeling "violated". Cheese might not typically strike one as being non-vegetarian, but the revelation regarding the production of Parmesan has caught many off guard due to its non-meat-free production method. As the Mirror highlighted, this cheese is crafted using rennet, which is an enzyme extracted from the stomach linings of young ruminants such as calves, lambs, and kids. A tweet posted in 2023 that left cheese lovers astonished announced: "Today years old when I found out Parmesan cheese is made from baby cow's stomach and I could go cry. I'm just gonna have to go full vegan at this point." The prospects of eating Parmesan again dwindled for some upon learning about its origins. One individual expressed their dismay: "I did not know. This makes me very sad. I like Parmesan but don't think I can ever eat it again," and another was equally disturbed: "Wow, I had never heard that! Dairy is scary for real." The person who posted the original message further declared: "I feel violated." To the chagrin of vegetarians, an array of other cheeses also contain rennet, including favourites like Manchego, Gruyere, Gorgonzola, and Camembert. On the brighter side, there are types of cheese available that don't use animal-derived rennet, allowing vegetarians to relish varieties such as Cheddar , Feta, Mozzarella, and Wensleydale without qualms. It was pointed out by one Twitter commentator that: "Rennet doesn't have to be from animal sources, there are vegetarian variants that work the same. "But it's true that you'll have to check for this to be able to say it's actually vegetarian." Another chimed in claiming: "Most rennet today uses genetically-engineered yeast and bacteria in its production, rather than calf stomachs." Another food's production process that has taken people by surprise recently is paprika , with people only learning what it's actually made from. Rather than being derived from a plant or herb, the deep-red spice that gives a sweet and smoky kick to dishes, is actually made from ground peppers. Paprika can be made with many different kinds of papers, from cayenne to Aleppo. Whichever pepper is chosen is left to dry than crushed using a mortar and pestle. Similar to Parmesan, it was a tweet that was previously shared the made the spicy revelation. At the time in 2023, @simsimmaaz tweeted: "Learning that paprika is just dried and crushed red bell peppers was really shocking. Like I dunno why I thought there was a Paprika tree somewhere." Multiple comments showed how this left people surprised, with one reading: "I didn't think there was a paprika tree, but I for sure thought it was some kind of spice blend or like its own thing that they just powdered."
New York Times
18-04-2025
- Business
- New York Times
A Shadow Hanging Over Europe: ‘A Taste of Italy' Made in New Jersey
Italian food producers have long fretted over competition from American brands that are made to look, and sound, as if they are from Italy. Some carry Italian flags and Tuscan-looking landscapes on their labels; others have (sometimes made-up) Italian-sounding names. But since President Trump began his tariff war with Europe, those concerns have become outright alarm. American competitors could gain an unfair advantage in U.S. supermarkets, the Italians say, turning crumbled Gorgonzola cheese made in the Midwest into a new threat. 'They could take over,' said Fabio Leonardi, the chief executive of Igor, an Italian Gorgonzola producer in Novara, west of Milan. 'Authentic Italian products could be replaced with Italian-sounding products from Wisconsin.' That, according to one American, would be a culinary travesty. 'I will not go back to the green shaker of unrefrigerated dust that America calls Parm, has the balls to call Parm,' Stephen Colbert said on 'The Late Show' this month. 'I am not interested in eating eggplant à la dandruff.' Italy exports nearly $9 billion worth of foodstuffs to the United States, with Parmigiano-Reggiano, Gorgonzola, Prosecco and olive oil filling American kitchen cabinets and restaurant menus. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Telegraph
28-03-2025
- General
- Telegraph
Twice baked blue cheese soufflé with pear and walnut salad
You might think you can't make soufflés but twice-baked ones are easier – and more delicious. You can use this recipe to make Gruyère and Parmesan soufflés too, it doesn't have to be blue cheese. When it comes to type, I think this is too salty made with Roquefort – choose a blue cheese that isn't as salty, such as Gorgonzola or Cashel Blue. Overview Prep time 35 mins Cook time 35 mins Serves 5 Ingredients For the soufflés 40g butter, plus extra for buttering the ramekins 40g Parmesan, finely grated 40g plain flour 250ml whole milk 75g blue cheese, cut into chunks or grated (it depends on its texture) 25g Gruyère, grated, plus another 35g for the second bake 1 tsp Dijon mustard 3 large eggs, separated ¼ tsp grated nutmeg (or more to taste) 200ml double cream For the dressing ½ tsp Dijon mustard 2 ½ tsp cider vinegar 4 tbsp walnut oil 1 tbsp olive oil (not extra-virgin) ½ tsp crème de cassis (or more or less to taste) For the salad 2 fat perfectly ripe pears juice of 1 lemon, to stop the pears going brown 20g butter 150g salad leaves 35g toasted walnuts, roughly chopped Method Step Heat the oven to 200C/190C fan/gas mark 6. Step Butter 4 x 150ml ramekins well. Sprinkle 40g finely grated Parmesan equally into each one – it will stick to the butter – then shake out the excess (keep this). Step Melt 40g butter in a saucepan and stir in 40g plain flour. Cook for 2 minutes, until the butter and flour come together and the mixture looks sandy. Remove the pan from the heat. Step Start adding 250ml whole milk a little at a time, stirring all the time with a wooden spoon. Keep this smooth, beating hard if necessary. Put back on the heat and bring to the boil – the mixture will thicken considerably. Step Stir in 75g blue cheese, cut into chunks or grated (it depends on its texture), 25g grated Gruyère and the rest of the Parmesan. Season and add 1 tsp Dijon mustard. Leave to cool a bit then add 3 large egg yolks and ¼ tsp grated nutmeg, ensuring everything is well mixed. Step Season well – it might seem strong but you're going to add egg whites which will soften the flavours. Scrape the mixture into a large bowl. Step Beat 3 egg whites in a really clean bowl until they form medium peaks. Fold this into the cheese and yolk mixture using a large metal spoon. Step Divide the soufflé mixture between the ramekins, filling them right up to the top. Wipe to remove any little spillages at the edges of the ramekins – these can stop the soufflés rising. Step Put the ramekins into a roasting tin and pour in ¾cm of boiling water. Bake for 15 minutes. Step Remove the ramekins from the tin. Leave to cool – the soufflés will sink a bit but don't worry, they will puff up on the second bake. Run a knife between the soufflés and the insides of the ramekins. Shake out the soufflés. Put these into one gratin dish, top down or, if you have them, individual ones. Cover loosely with cling film and put in the fridge. Step Make the dressing for the salad by whisking together ½ tsp Dijon mustard, 2 ½ tsp cider vinegar, 4 tbsp walnut oil, 1 tbsp olive oil (not extra-virgin), and ½ tsp crème de cassis. Season to taste. Step Before you recook the soufflés, halve and core 2 fat perfectly ripe pears, cut them into slices and drop them immediately into the juice of 1 lemon (this stops them going brown). Step Heat the oven to 220C/210C fan/gas mark 7. Pour 200ml double cream over the soufflés and scatter with 35g Gruyère. Bake for 10 minutes, until puffed up, bubbling and golden.
Telegraph
08-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Telegraph
Bernie Ecclestone: ‘Donald Trump is the best thing that could happen to the world'
Night has fallen in Gstaad, as the beau monde defy unusually mild, slushy snow conditions with some opulent après-ski. It has long been the place for people-watching, this achingly chic Swiss Alpine village where you find a 15th-century chapel nestled alongside a Valentino boutique. 'The last paradise in a crazy world,' Julie Andrews called it, while a former manager of the Gstaad Palace swore that he saw Elizabeth Taylor here with five different husbands. Today, the residents hardly come more recognisable than Bernie Ecclestone, who, at 7pm sharp as arranged, arrives in the lobby of the Arc-en-Ciel restaurant with his wife Fabiana and their four-year-old son, Ace. At 94, Ecclestone still projects an aura perfected during his 40 years as When I suggest that it simply allows recipients to see their life's work recognised while they are alive, he shrugs. Ecclestone has never been one to wallow in nostalgia or to be comfortable with extravagant praise. He turned down a knighthood in the 1990s on the pretext that he was 'too busy'. Except the fuller story was that he felt he had not accomplished enough to earn it. 'Whatever I did, I did for myself,' he says. 'If somebody benefited from that, good. But it was never my intention. I thought these awards should only be for people who had captured a country, gone back to the Queen and given her the keys. 'There you go, we've captured India.' 'I'm probably praised for a lot of things that I don't deserve. I'm not looking for it, though. I'm not hoping that people stop me on the pavement. If they want to do it, good on them. What I don't like is when they say something that isn't genuine.' 'I hope my son doesn't look at me as the old man' He orders his go-to dish, the Gorgonzola pizza, washed down with sparkling water. Given that he is battling a stubborn dose of winter flu, he avoids alcohol, explaining that two different doctors have prescribed a course of 'rest, water and not getting aggravated'. While I stressed in advance that we could reschedule dinner if he was unwell, he would not hear of it, treating his ailment as a trifling speed bump. Two golden rules you learn in dealing with Ecclestone are that he always returns a telephone call and always, barring calamity, honours an appointment. Even when the eruption of an Icelandic volcano briefly grounded most global air travel in 2010, he arranged for his private jet to route around the giant ash plume in order to return to London from a trip to Shanghai. Ecclestone expresses his philosophy on life thus: 'Age is all in the mind. When you get up, think you're 21.' It has been eight years since he relinquished his F1 supremacy, but he has stayed true to this core principle. In 2020, he became a father at 89, which by some accounts made him the sixth oldest in human history. The age range of his children is surely unsurpassed: while Ace is five in July, his eldest daughter Deborah turns 70 this year. Does it matter? To see him interact with Ace is to be reminded of any other paternal dynamic, as he fusses over the toddler's temperature – he has been running a fever all day – and whether his colouring pencils are sufficiently sharp. On the outside, Ecclestone is an unsentimental soul. He jokes that when the time comes for Fabiana to put him in a cardboard box, she should first ensure the box is DHL-branded so that she can make some advertising money (the Formula One sponsorship deal he struck with the delivery firm more than 20 years ago is still going strong). And yet when discussing Ace, or the precious time he has to watch him grow up, he betrays a faint hint of vulnerability. 'I hope that he doesn't look at me as the old man,' he says. 'I try to be the way he would want me to be. He's a bright little boy, so he needs to be treated as such.' As the consummate deal-maker, hardwired to live in the moment, he almost never offers any concession to his own mortality. It falls to others to marvel at how he has sustained such a pace so long into his golden years. As far back as 2012, I recall one of his assistants saying incredulously of his work ethic: '82? For f---'s sake.' He is hardly slacking at 94. The only difference is that instead of crossing continents every fortnight, he has the kingpins of sport travel to him. One week he is dining with Juan Antonio Samaranch Jnr, a frontrunner to become But his 94th birthday brought a change in outlook. 'You have to face up to reality,' he acknowledges. 'When you're 80, you tell yourself, 'Maybe I can crack the whip for another five or six years.' Then you're 90 and you think, 'Bloody hell.' Now people say to me, 'You're going to live to 120.' It's all nonsense, obviously. What I don't want, when they put me in the box or the oven, is to leave problems for people. Not for Fabiana, not for my children, not for anyone. I don't want to leave any mysteries for them. I want them to be able to go on and live their lives as normal.' To this end, Ecclestone has taken the extraordinary step of putting his A popular theory is that he is only contemplating this move after 'It's very easy,' he says. 'With a bit of luck I might get two or three more years. And I don't want to leave all this for Fabiana to sort. All these car dealers would be driving her mad. So the best thing to do is to get all the cars together and try to make sure they go to proper homes. Ace might not be interested in handling all this either. He might be more into football. Sooner or later, this had to happen. I'm still more or less in control, so I can do what I like. Maybe in another year I won't be able to.' He met Fabiana, a 48-year-old Brazilian lawyer, while she was working at the grand prix in Sao Paulo in 2009, with the couple marrying here in Gstaad three years later. The relationship has not been short on incident. In 2019, Ecclestone called me to his Knightsbridge office, where they disclosed how they had been blackmailed over the kidnapping of his wife's mother, with the man responsible even seeking to frame them falsely for the crime before she was released. Life has since produced a subtle role reversal: with Bernie technically retired, Fabiana works as vice-president for the FIA, F1's global governing body, in charge of South America. 'Hamilton won't last two seasons at Ferrari' Not that her husband is shy of holding forth on the sport that he made his fiefdom. Take 'I don't think Lewis will get the same attention at Ferrari,' he says. 'Firstly, the team are happy with Charles Leclerc, his team-mate. Leclerc speaks their language [he's fluent in Italian], so they'll be looking after him. Even if Lewis does well, there'll still be a lot of enemies, because he has suddenly arrived.' Might age – Hamilton is 40, Leclerc 27 – prove a factor? 'I have my theory about this. It's not the age with drivers, it's how long they have been doing the same thing. I have thought with Lewis, 'He's getting tired. He has lost motivation.' If he had never won a world championship, it might be different, because then there would be an incentive to win one. But he has won seven.' As ringmaster, he understood Hamilton's peerless commercial value. Still, the attached circus, including the driver's outré sartorial choices and preoccupation with social media, brought them frequently into conflict. 'Lewis gets himself up front in a way where you can dislike him,' Ecclestone argues. 'How a guy who has won a few world titles and has a few dollars in the bank can dress the way he dresses… I'm not a fan of that. He has a lot of talent as a driver. As much as people credit him with? No, but still enough to win races. I don't know why he does all this other nonsense. He needs to get out of the music business and whatever else.' Even though Schumacher was never the same behind the wheel beyond the age of 40, Ferrari have enlisted Hamilton for a minimum two seasons. 'He won't last that long,' Ecclestone predicts. 'Piero Ferrari, who has taken him there, still thinks they've done the right thing. I hope they have. I hope they haven't just jumped in and end up wishing they hadn't.' As we eat, the snow falling softly against the restaurant windows, he remembers he has to call his daughter Petra to let her know he has landed. Among the Ecclestone clan, Petra, 36, and her older sister Tamara, 40, have rarely been out of the limelight, courting publicity through both their modelling and lavish property portfolios. But such wealth offered scant protection against last month's 'Trump is a good dealer... Starmer doesn't know what he's doing' In discussing events in the United States, it feels apt to explore his perspective on the re-election of Donald Trump. After all, Trump's instinctively autocratic style, coupled with his disinclination to take no for an answer, has its similarities with Ecclestone's own. 'Trump is the best thing that could happen to the world,' he declares. 'As I've said right from day one, he is a dealer. He puts it like this: 'OK, you don't want me to do this? Well, this is what I want you to do. So, let's do a deal. I'll back off a little, but you have to wake up.' He's a good dealer.' They dealt with each other directly 15 years ago, when Ecclestone tried and failed to launch the Grand Prix of America, with the Manhattan skyline as a panoramic backdrop. One roadblock, he admits, was Trump's insistence – as New York's most flamboyant developer – on having his name plastered over everything. 'I eventually said to him, 'Do you know what? The only thing you haven't asked to have your name on is toilet paper.'' Still, this shamelessness as a negotiator also earned his respect. 'I would love to have had him as a partner in my used-car business.' From Ecclestone, the man who first forged his reputation as Warren Street's finest second-hand car dealer, there could be no greater compliment. As such, his expectations on Trump's return to the White House are high. 'Forget the word, 'President'. He's the chief executive of USA Limited. He's running the country like a company. It's for the shareholders and for everyone in that company. People who work there, he tries to look after.' There are parallels, certainly, between Ecclestone, approving of Trump's attempts to eliminate the 'woke c--p' across US federal agencies, defines wokery as 'people trying to make themselves look like what they're not'. Portraying the re-election as a turning of the tide in this sense, he says: 'He wants people to be honest and up front. He doesn't want them to keep hiding behind something or saying things that aren't honest. If he has got something to say, he says it. If it happens to upset somebody, that's how it goes.' That sounds very much like a certain 'Mr E'? 'Yeah. You call it as it is.' While he bases himself in Switzerland these days, Ecclestone has still kept his Kensington pied-à-terre . He just wishes, he says, that the country he calls home could be more expertly run. He famously donated £1 million to Labour in 1997, the year of Tony Blair's election, leading to a scandal when the government later announced that F1 would be exempt from its ban on tobacco advertising. Today, Ecclestone exhibits far less enthusiasm for It is a sobering analysis to hear as the waiter brings us decadent Swiss chocolate mousse for dessert. Then again, he seldom sugar-coats his opinions on anyone he deems not up to the task. He can be intensely loyal to his fellow strong-men, but lethal to those he considers feeble. It is a key reason why so many of sport's top executives still beat a path to his door. For the truth is that whatever you think of Ecclestone – and he could scarcely care less, six years shy of a telegram from the King – he still convinces as a font of wisdom, a force of nature whose like we shall not see again.
